SoftBank’s Sprint stake tops 80 percent

SoftBank Corp. in Tokyo has bumped its ownership of Sprint Corp. to 80.5 percent, according to a filing with securities regulators. The Japanese wireless company has been adding to the 78 percent stake it gained in July for $21.6 billion through purchases of stock in the open market.

Masayoshi Son (left), president and CEO of SoftBank Corp. and Dan Hesse, president and CEO of Sprint Nextel Corp.

SoftBank Corp. in Tokyo has bumped its ownership of Sprint Corp. to 80.5 percent, according to a filing with securities regulators.

The Japanese wireless company has been adding to the 78 percent stake it gained in July for $21.6 billion through purchases of stock in the open market.

Its latest purchases came through Galaxy Investment Holdings Inc. that SoftBank owns. Galaxy bought 74.56 million shares during August and the first 16 days of September, the filing said. It paid $498.5 million, or $6.686 a share on average.

SoftBank had said previously it would purchase additional shares of Overland Park-based Sprint until its ownership reached approximately 80 percent.